U2’s Bono had a full-fledged mullet, Freddie Mercury was alive and rock music made a difference.
Quite a bit has changed in the 20 years since the unprecedented Live Aid concert rocked the world from both sides of the Atlantic Ocean on July 13, 1985. The event was designed to raise money and awareness for the famine in Ethiopia.
Live Aid was unquestionably huge in its day, with performers accepting no payment for their appearances and helping to raise more than $140 million for the relief. But looking back two decades later, it is even more remarkable.
KCTS, Channel 9, gives us a chance to experience it again with a 90-minute special, “Live Aid: The Day the Music Changed the World.” It airs at 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, with repeats at 1 a.m. and 11:30 p.m. March 25.
The special is a sneak peek at clips that have been collected from the archives of the BBC and MTV. The footage is unique because the show was never meant to be recorded.
It has been culled onto a 10-hour four-DVD box set that KCTS is offering as a thank-you gift for a pledge of $125. Viewers will have a chance to make that pledge during airings of the special, or at www.kcts.org.
Heavyweights of pop music such as Queen, U2, Madonna, Sting, Elton John, Mick Jagger, Tina Turner, Phil Collins and Eric Clapton turned in memorable performances during the 16-hour concert.
Fifty-two artists performed 200 songs that day.
Live Aid was the brainchild of Bob Geldof, lead singer of the Boomtown Rats, who wanted to do something to help alleviate the starvation in Africa. He first formed Band Aid, a group of musicians who recorded the popular “Do They Know It’s Christmas?”
Geldof then developed the idea of a full-blown concert and began booking the top stars, providing a chance for many bands, such as Crosby, Stills, Nash &Young, Led Zeppelin and The Who to reunite.
It was staged at London’s Wembley Stadium and at Philadelphia’s John F. Kennedy Stadium with thousands in attendance and an estimated 1.5 billion people viewing on television.
Watching the show now conjures all sorts of emotions, from the sheer nostalgia of seeing these greats – 20 years younger – performing to the realization of why they were all there.
They cared about something.
The KCTS program is not a documentary and doesn’t provide any behind-the-scenes insight. It’s 60 minutes of hit after hit that give us a chance to relive a momentous day.
Viewers will be treated to a burgeoning Bono – with his 1985 hair and outfit providing a little chuckle – screaming the anthem, “Sunday Bloody Sunday.” The passionate vocalist was recently nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.
Sting and Phil Collins perform an unlikely duet, bringing Wembley’s packed crowd to virtual silence with their rendition of the Police’s “Every Breath You Take.”
A pre-Kabbalah Madonna brings a youthful and celebratory vibe – and sings live! – with her breakthrough hit, “Holiday.”
Mercury prances around the stage, leading Queen in a performance of “Radio Ga Ga” that sends thousands of arms into the air, clapping in unison.
And the diva meter spins out of control as Jagger and Turner take the stage together.
Justin Timberlake was just 4 years old when the duo showed the world what a functional wardrobe malfunction looks like.
Tune in and you’ll see it all.
Columnist Victor Balta: 425-339-3455 or vbalta@heraldnet.com.
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